Tag: Presidential Term

President For Life?

With our election just mere months away you might think this is a post about the wishes of Donald the Orange……you would be mistaken.

Or may be it will be about that mad man in Russia Vlad the Invader, Putin….once again you will be wrong.

No this post will be about Ukraine and Zelensky.

You mean that democracy in Eastern Europe that we are helping ward off an invader?

First of all….what democracy?

Does this sound like a democracy?

Opposition parties banned

Opposition leaders arrested

Opposition papers closed down

Elections cancelled

To me it does not….but you decide

But why ask about president for life?

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenky’s term expired on Monday, but he will remain in power since presidential elections scheduled in March were canceled due to martial law imposed since Russia invaded in February 2022.

While framing the proxy war in Ukraine as a battle for democracy, the US has backed Zelensky’s decision not to hold elections. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Ukraine last week and claimed the US helped build “democratic pillars,” including “free and fair elections,” but said a vote could only happen once “conditions” are right.

Zelensky also canceled parliamentary elections that were supposed to be held last October. To justify the decision, Ukrainian officials have pointed to Ukraine’s constitution, which says elections can’t be held under martial law. But Zelensky previously made it clear that he could have held elections if he wanted.

Last year, Zelensky told Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) that he was willing to hold a vote if the West paid for it and if legislators agreed to amend the constitution. “I will not take money from weapons and give it to elections,” he said.

But Zelensky later ruled out the idea and was not put under pressure by the US or other NATO countries to hold a vote. The Ukrainian leader is determined to continue the war and has rejected the idea of diplomacy with Russia despite not having a chance at victory and growing war fatigue among Ukrainians.

I know….I know….there is a war and some sort of concessions must be made.

So basically Zelensky will remain president until this conflict is settled and that could take a very long time indeed.

His seat in the power chair remains firmly attached to his ass and the cash will follow through him.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Next President

Back in June I did a post on what the next president would be facing, unfortunately I was mistaken in some areas for the economy had not gone into the toilet yet.

November 4th, the next president will be chosen by the American people (actually the electoral college, but believe what you will) and he will immediately be confronted with a wealth of problems that need immediate attention.

He will face 2 wars, the worst economy since 1930, a growing deficit, job losses, energy independence, a crumbling infrastructure and the list goes on and on, those were the immediate problems that must be faced.

US President George W. Bush’s successor inherits a world of troubles come January, including wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, a defiant Iran, and a US economy battered by the global financial crisis.

The new president will take the reins of a limping superpower facing deep doubts overseas about the limits of its strength, and sharply diminished US standing even among Washington’s closest friends, recent studies find.

If these cannot be handled and handled quickly, then our next president will most likely be a ONE term president.  He will be held responsible for everything that occurs within those 4 years, no matter where they originated.

Now the question will be, will the Congress work with the new president or will they just be a hinderance?  Will a democratic Congress be willing to change things?  Or will they like the status quo?  IMO, there are a lot of “Blue Dog” Democrats in the Congress, I do not see them helping the Obama presidency much.

“America’s moral leadership and decision-making competence will continue to be questioned at home and abroad, despite the arrival of new leadership in Washington,” a Georgetown University working group said earlier this year.

Bush leaves a mountain of unfinished business. Barring perhaps unimaginable breakthroughs, it will fall to one of his successors to end the US presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, herald the end of nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea, and celebrate a lasting peace deal in the Middle East.

And the next president will certainly inherit a grim economy — the White House this week predicted a sharp rise in unemployment, while some private-sector forecasts warn of a trillion-dollar budget deficit in 2009.

The new president will likely face difficult decisions on Iraq. Recent US public opinion polls reveal new optimism amid decreased violence there, but most Americans still want US troops to come home as soon as possible.

The new president will also inherit Iran’s defiance of international pressure over its suspect nuclear program and a fragile six-country deal making ginger progress towards ending North Korea’s atomic weapons ambitions.

Other headaches include Washington’s chilly ties with Moscow — their worst since the Cold War — as well as relations with Pakistan which have tensed over suspected US strikes at extremists along the border with Afghanistan.